Largely in reaction to the lack of action at the state level in California, counties and municipalities have been adopting their own financial privacy ordinances. The industry is basically arguing that it can’t deal with a patchwork of regulation in this area. Bob Egelko reports:
Bank of America and Wells Fargo asked a federal judge this week to strike down ordinances adopted by San Mateo County and Daly City to fill the gap left by the state Legislature’s rejection of a proposed statewide consumer privacy law. The banks said the local ordinances conflicted with federal law.
“Financial institutions that have customers across the country simply cannot be subject to differing and conflicting standards and disclosures in different cities, counties and states,” the American Bankers Association, which endorses the new lawsuit, said Thursday.